On June 19, also known as Juneteenth, the newly established organization Broadway for Racial Justice released a video sharing anonymous accounts from Black actors of racism in the theatrical workplace. The video corresponds with the official launch of the #WeAreNotATrend campaign.
“I have called upon allies to take on the emotional labor of sharing these stories aloud, unrehearsed and in one take,� says BFRJ founder Brandon Nase. “This is not a moment of dramatized performative allyship. This is a moment of discomfort. This is a reality of what we as Black people endure is registered in real time by a hopeful many whose privilege has shielded them from our existence within this community.�
The video contains stories from costume fittings, workshop rehearsals, tech rehearsals, fight choreography sessions, and more, in which racist comments and behaviors have taken place.
“During a costume fitting for a national tour, the head of wardrobe said to my face that he would have to rethink some of my costumes because of my ‘big black girl booty,’� reads one actor.
“Coming up as a young artist, the first piece I learned was Macbeth's ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow� soliloquy,� another actor reads. “It was given to me by my director at an incredible youth program during our Shakespeare portion of learning. I didn't understand then why she put Shakespeare in my hands at such a young age. After that day, I took the same monologue to another program and was told that I didn't need to worry about doing Shakespeare, that I should stick to pieces that I'd be in, like Fences and Raisin in the Sun.�
The video contains 20 stories in total, which, no doubt, represent a fraction of these types of racist experiences that Black actors have endured in the workplace.
To learn more about Broadway for Racial Justice,.
